Facelift our house!

[MrChips]

Only got a few minutes to mock something up but yep cladding would look good along with some other changes. I'd like to do something similar on ours as i don't like the tile cladding.

[CAPP0]

Brilliant! Thanks so much. It actually doesn't even look too bad with the brown windows. That's definitely something to think about.

Really appreciate that!

[cobain]

I did similar to my 70's house. The ship lap cladding wouldn't work with many houses but I think I got away with it. It was cheap as I did almost all the work myself:

Cladding £170 ish and treatment £30
Front door and frame £250 ish fitted myself
Double glazing units either side of front door £100 ish
100 sq m block paving £2500 laid myself
Krend I paid someone £250 to do it
Cement boards for krend £250
Really pleased with the transformation!

Before:



After:

[SonicHedgeHog]

Top job. Remodel of the windows and doors works well with the cladding.

[CAPP0]

Hmm, seems like we may have hit something of a, er, wall.

I contacted the local Parish Council for advice, and they advised that whilst the Borough Council have the say on planning applications, they are consulted, and they always take into account whether the materials to be used are suitable/in keeping.

Spoke to the Borough Council and asked "would replacing the tile cladding with cedar, changing the window colour and rendering the lower elevations required PP?" In the past you've been able to chat to a planning officer on the phone to get a steer on this. Now, though, they won't even answer a question like that unless you send them a cheque for £48.

So, the Planning Portal suggests that replacing cladding non-like for like requires PP. But it gets worse. If you change more than 25% of the appearance of a wall, with, for example, cladding, you now have to meet current regs on insulation for that wall. There must be all of 20mm (?) of battening under those tiles, so there's no chance of adding several inches of Celotex, which I guess is what they would require.

So, with all those things taken into account we could be dead in the water. Or at least, just back to doing the drive and painting the front door and garage door a lighter colour.

[V8RX7]

IME - just do it.

The insulation requirements are widely ignored even by Private Building Inspectors - they are nonsense.

I had a damp floor - according to the rules I can either do nothing or add approx 100mm celotex - I added 25mm as that's what I had room for B Ins was happy. Walls again no way I was adding 100mm internally so I added 50mm - again he was happy.

I've never heard of anyone getting a stop notice for ignoring the insulation rules - at worst you wouldn't get a cert, so what - I wouldn't even apply for one for re-cladding.

[Olivera]

OP,

Get rid of the stone chippings front garden and replace it with a nice flower bed and/or some nice turf. That alone would make it look much nicer to my eyes.

[SonicHedgeHog]

You need V8RX7 managing your remodel because his bulldozer approach seems to work for him and I'd have to agree with him on this.

Failing that break it down into chunks. First there will be nothing to stop you sorting the drive. Second, they can't stop you updating the windows and doors and changing them for a different colour. That leaves the cladding and render. Sod the insulation. Fit quality cladding that has been carefully selected. Then at a slightly later date do the render and the guttering. If you do a good job no one will complain because your house will look great and the council will never know.

The only fly in the ointment is if you are the kind of person who has to do absolutely everything by the book and worries endlessly if you don't. I admire the morals of anyone like this, but it probably means you scupper the project rather than anything/anyone else.

[sealtt]

Your house already looks nice, I wouldn't bother spending anything on it's appearance. You get used to the looks very quickly, it'd only be worth it if it looked bad and really needed a facelift, but a freshen up of the garden and driveway will do the job - maybe some nice doors/windows when they are needed.

[xe mini]

We had cladding last year including insulation on one wall.
Larch and zinc.

Took 2 men 3 days due to bad wind and rain on one day.

Start


In progress


Finish.




Made a world of difference I think, still got the blinds to change at a later date (as house is work in progress with limited funds) and as they work there not anywhere near top of the list, and yes I know grey windows would look much better before anyone says.
Again on the "when I have some cash list".

[Welshbeef]

xe mini said:

We had cladding last year including insulation on one wall.
Larch and zinc.

Took 2 men 3 days due to bad wind and rain on one day.

Start


In progress


Finish.




Made a world of difference I think, still got the blinds to change at a later date (as house is work in progress with limited funds) and as they work there not anywhere near top of the list, and yes I know grey windows would look much better before anyone says.
Again on the "when I have some cash list".

Utterly transformed / impressed with that.

Did you source the wood cladding from the Nordics?

[xe mini]

Welshbeef said:

Utterly transformed / impressed with that.

Did you source the wood cladding from the Nordics?

Thanks,
I believe from Denmark so he said.

[CAPP0]

xe mini said:

We had cladding last year including insulation on one wall.
Larch and zinc.

Took 2 men 3 days due to bad wind and rain on one day.

Start


In progress


Finish.




Made a world of difference I think, still got the blinds to change at a later date (as house is work in progress with limited funds) and as they work there not anywhere near top of the list, and yes I know grey windows would look much better before anyone says.
Again on the "when I have some cash list".

Looks fantastic. Would you mind if I sent a PM about the cost?

[clarkey]

Personally, i would save the money on doing the cladding, its not so bad as it is. I would replace the front door and garage door, invest in some really lovely LED lighting, and do the front garden and driveway.
Unless you are planning on staying there forever you are unlikely to get the money back on anything more significant.

[xe mini]

CAPP0 said:

Looks fantastic. Would you mind if I sent a PM about the cost?

I forgot to put the price in the thread.
Cost was 2000 Euro (as am in Germany) so around 1450 pounds but was last December.

Will be getting half the side wall of the house done at a later date from floor to roof apex and where the 2 windows are will be zinc.



Sorry about all the pictures but its better to get a visual idea of how it looks.

Front of house I binned all the plants put down grey slate and a few grass plants for a more modern look as house is 70s.



Again all done on a shoestring budget but looks much better in my humble opinion.

[CAPP0]

sealtt said:

Your house already looks nice

Thank you

clarkey said:

Personally, i would save the money on doing the cladding, its not so bad as it is. I would replace the front door and garage door, invest in some really lovely LED lighting, and do the front garden and driveway.
Unless you are planning on staying there forever you are unlikely to get the money back on anything more significant.

I'm starting to think, with the potential hurdles of officialdom, that maybe the tiles will have to stay. I think if we changed the windows to white, it wouldn't work somehow, and would also be very obviously out of keeping with the other houses.

But there was an earlier comment about how dark the house looks, and that's what we need to change. Maybe the drive and some new doors would be enough, with nice lighting.

Any idea how I'd get a power cable down that pillar?